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Forum namePass The Popcorn
Topic subjectare actors overrepresented at Ivy League universities?
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=462793
462793, are actors overrepresented at Ivy League universities?
Posted by SoWhat, Thu Jul-16-09 03:32 PM
how come i keep reading about fresh-faced young actors who 'plan' to attend various Ivy League universities? that woman from the Harry Potter flicks is the most recent 1 i read about. i've heard about others too. forgive me for not listing any.

what gives? are these thespians really that smart? or are they merely well-connected and rich enough to be admitted?

and how do actors do at these schools? i hear about them 'planning' to attend, but how many actually do? and of those who do, how many graduate? and w/what kind of grades?
462859, having previously worked at a university admissions dept...
Posted by Wordman, Fri Jul-17-09 01:10 AM
...Frank Longo reply is correct.


"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams
462861, many attend, few graduate....
Posted by SankofaII, Fri Jul-17-09 01:26 AM
off the top of my head:

thesps who finished:
Sanaa Lathan
Claire Danes
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Brian White
Hill Harper
Jordana Brewster
Matthew Fox
Natalie Portman
Jodie Foster

those who didn't:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Elisabeth Shue (came back and finished)
Joy Bryant
Matt Damon

In the case of Emma Watson, she's actually quite intelligent apparently and had her choice of Cambridge (a school where many thespians go and acually finish..most of them do) or Ivy League, and settled on columubia.

if im not mistaken, she'll be attending once she finishes the final harry potter 2 part movie....i think they finish this august...
463025, you named more people who finished who didn't
Posted by NoShelter, Sat Jul-18-09 11:30 AM
I mean I'm already getting paid millions of dollars and I voluntarily go back to college?
I mean college is work, period. And people ain't seeing a Natalie Portman movie cuz she graduated from Harvard. I really don't see how it particularly helps there career, probably hinders in some ways scheduling ways.
I mean if they are truely interested and have the cash, more power to them. Its not like Jessica Simpson is going to Yale so I can't say these people aren't very intelligent.
463035, most of the people i named
Posted by SankofaII, Sat Jul-18-09 01:03 PM
weren't even established when they finished...

i just posted the names i knew of as folk who went to college, pursued acting THEN built up their resumes....

i dont know if it matters or not....i don't think it does. i would think acting talent and overall bankability/presence would count more than degrees...

if it didn't, Channing Tatum and half of these "up and coming" stars wouldn't HAVE careers if where you went to school mattered...since he's a college dropout, clearly it didn't bother him at all to have NOT gone to school....
462904, I had friends at Harvard and Yale who took classes with
Posted by JungleSouljah, Fri Jul-17-09 11:06 AM
Natalie Portman and Claire Danes respectively. They only had good things to say about both. They definitely were not out-classed in the intellectual setting, at least not compared to anyone else.